Orjan Nilsen speaks on newest release ‘Hurricane’ and the US trance scene

“I’m in the fortunate situation where if i make something a little more house-y, the house-y guys pick it up, if its more trance-y the trance guys pick it up” says Orjan Nilsen, and with good reason. The Norwegian artist has long been a fan of both the house and trance genres, and consistently pumped out hits in both scenes. With his latest single off his second studio album No Saint Out Of Me leaning towards the energetic progressive house side of the duality in his talents, Orjan hopes for “Hurricane,” featuring lovely vocals from Christina Novelli, to take the charts with furiosity following support from trance legends like Armin Van Buuren and Cosmic Gate and house mainstays including the likes of W&W. The release includes a bonus track in form of a remix of “Hurricane” from Kevin Wild, taking the main stage route with a big room anthem fit for the festival season.

“Seeing people like Hardwell, Blasterjaxx and Morgan Page pick up ‘Fair Game’ (with Cosmic Gate) even though its such a ‘trance’ track is particularly fun!” the artist remarks with confidence. Orjan Nilsen is a name amongst the largest in the electronic game right now, booking an insane touring schedule and a string of album singles on top over the past year. Today, Orjan is making his way through Europe, bouncing from the first weekend of Tomorrowland to Croatia, Ibiza, and a few other locations before making his way back to Belgium for round two of the fantasy festival. For the last year, though, Orjan has been cementing his place within the US electronic market.

Orjan takes to the friendlier side of the dichotomized opinion of the fresh US trance scene. “I really like the American scene, I’m one of the few guys who does not see the point of changing my set just because I’m in America, I go all out wherever I am, a particular highlight is that the trance movement in the US is so new and fresh, you get to watch it grow,” says Nilsen. “Just like guys like Armin van Buuren, Tiësto and Paul van Dyk got to see the european scene blow up some 10-15 years ago.” With these words, the genuine interest and potential of Orjan in his musical career is made apparent. With a fresh mind, trance in the western hemisphere is his for the shaping – and in order to ensure that, Norway’s finest has gone out of his way to put a face to the trance name, organizing special meet-and-greets for US fans. Orjan, in his usual humble and appreciative ways, likes to meet those that allow him to do what he loves. “I do my best to set up meet and greets with my fans, that are more than just a quick photo-op in a green room before/after going on stage, I enjoy actually getting to know these people, hear their stories, and just hang out with them, not many people are willing to post the address of a random bar and then tell people to show up.”

What’s next for the two-time top 50 DJ? “I try my best to work on stuff when I’m at home, but also have the be there for my daughter, my family and my friends. Thankfully, I have some more time off in the coming months and I always stay at home for Christmas/New Years and the entire month of January. I have a good number of things in the works, just need time to wrap it up.” As a new label head of his own imprint In My Opinion, the star has a lot on his plate. Thankfully, he has not put making fresh material behind him. Orjan continues to work on new music while at home towards the end of the year, but, as always, family first.

As for the hot topic on everybody’s mind, I’ll let the man speak for himself.

“The DJ Mag is odd to me, i think the biggest problem is just the over-exposure the average fan gets to it, you see people [retweet]ing every single top 5 listing they get on Twitter. I would love for people to vote for me, but I’m also of the belief that there are more important ways to get people to vote for you, like releasing a track at the right time, playing that big festival, etc. Telling people to vote, I do it a little but i do not like doing it. I don’t like the feeling that i somehow have to remind people, “Oh i’m still here, vote for me please.” Hopefully many of my fans will have me in fresh memory, and won’t have to me reminded.”